""It’s official: Arizona junior guard Mustafa Shakur is making himself available for the NBA draft. He is not hiring an agent, making it possible to withdraw from the draft and return to the team if he doesn’t get a sense of being selected this summer. "I think this is a good opportunity to further showcase my skills," Shakur said through the school’s sports information office."

"With or without the departure of Quin Snyder, Missouri’s Thomas Gardner contends he intended to gauge his value in the 2006 NBA draft. In that regard, Gardner said Wednesday in Columbia: “This year really had no determination on what I would have done. “Even if we went to the (NCAA) tournament and Coach wouldn’t have got fired, I still would have made this decision.”